Florida’s Online Unemployment System Updated

On Tuesday, April 28, the State of Florida announced that its online unemployment system has been updated to be able to process the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims for most applicants who were deemed ineligible for state benefits.

Florida’s Online Unemployment System Updated

On Tuesday, April 28, the State of Florida announced that its online unemployment system has been updated to be able to process the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims for most applicants who were deemed ineligible for state benefits. Florida residents who unsuccessfully applied for unemployment benefits before April 4th, 2020 should reapply at www.FloridaJobs.org even if they were denied benefits by the state or have not received a response about their claim, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Those who applied on or after April 5th will be processed by the state without any further action on the applicant’s part.
The unemployment website update allows gig workers, independent contractors, self-employed individuals, and most other applicants that would not normally be eligible for state benefits, to apply for up to $600 per week in federal unemployment assistance approved under the CARES Act. Unemployed workers that would still be ineligible include those that did not lose their jobs because of the coronavirus, quit voluntarily or were fired, or are on paid leave.
The DEO indicated that it is contacting all denied applicants to inform them that they should reapply, but applicants should not wait to be contacted by the department to reapply again online. Denied applicants will not be penalized for reapplying, the department announced.

To allow for nightly maintenance, he DEO’s CONNECT site will be available from 8 a.m. to 7:59 p.m. daily and will not be available from 8 p.m. to 7:59 a.m. except for applicants filing new claims.